Arm wrestling involves the movement of multiple muscle groups of your upper body during different stages. You will rotate your opponent’s arm by creating a robust pulling motion to you when starting. During this moment, your shoulder complex will play some role.
Your biceps bronchi, brachialis, and elbow will kick in later. Then the wrist flexor muscle will kick in as you use the hook to rotate the opponent’s finger. Finally, your trunk muscles will kick in when tilting your body to tittle the opponent’s arm. Below are the muscles you require for arm wrestling.
Deltoid
The deltoid is found around your shoulder and upper arm. Remember, you will be lifting your arm and rotate it during wrestling. This muscle will help you perform these functionalities. The deltoid muscle has three parts: anterior, middle, and back.
Coracobranchialis Muscle
You will find this muscle attached to the upper part of the arm. During arm wrestling, it will flex and abduct the arm to the shoulder joint. It can also prevent your arm from deviating from the frontal plane. The contraction of this muscle causes two movements at your shoulder joint.
It causes abduction of your arm by drawing the humerus forward and the humerus towards the torso. In some situations, it causes internal rotation by turning the humerus inwards. When your arm is hanging freely at the opponent’s side, it will stabilize the humeral head.
Biceps Branchii
Sometimes people refer to this muscle as the biceps. The muscle will help you to move your elbow and muscle during arm wrestling. You will require it to lift your forearm. Also, you will require it to move your arms forward, upward, and even sideways. Additionally, it would help if you had it for shoulder elevation.
Pectoralis Major
You will identify this muscle in the chest. During arm wrestling, it will help you to rotate the humerus medially.
Wrist Flexors
During arm wrestling, there are instances when you should break the wrist. We understand that wrist flexors are supportive of this action taking place.
Triceps Branchii Muscle
This muscle spans almost the length of your humerus. It performs the primary function of extending your forearm at the elbow joint. Other than that, its long head abducts and extends the arm at your shoulder.
Infraspinatus
You will reach a point where you want to turn your shoulder during arm wrestling. It’s the work of this muscle to ensure that this functionality occurs. When your arm is fixed, it will abduct the inferior angle of the scapula. Then the head will rotate outward through the work of the infraspinatus and teres minor.
It will also assist in carrying your arm backward. Besides, it reinforces the capsule found on your shoulder joint.
Hand Muscles and Your Grip Strength
The Journal of Education and Training Studies conducted a study in 2017. They aimed to determine changes in a male arm wrestler’s handgrip strength before and after exercising. Exercises consisted of five sets of weight lifting, warm-up, and cool down.
It indicated a decline in the strength of hand grip after the arm wrestler finished training. Researchers, therefore, believed that it was exhaustion after the exercise. However, it indicated that exercise would increase grip strength for a long time.
What’s the Most Important Muscle During Arm Wrestling
You might ask yourself this question over and over again on the most important muscle. Remember, every muscle will play a massive role in wrestling. We can suggest that everything is necessary at this particular point.
First of all, arm wrestling is termed wrist wrestling for some reason. Wrist control is more critical for you to gain enough leverage. Strong arms will equal string wrists. There will be an advantage on strength when you have stronger wrists. Individuals with developed forearms also have well-developed biceps.
We can say that forearm muscles are slightly important when you develop them. Even if you have a terrible Cronus, there are chances of making more moves. However, if your forearm has not set, you will fail a lot of actions. The strength of your forearm influences how you grip the opponent.
In the closing period of the match, that strength is very crucial. You will grip to make an ankle pick or fireman.
What Muscles Should I Train for Arm Wrestling
Forearm Muscles
The development of forearm strength is essential, especially if your forearms are small. Think about when pulling your opponent’s arm towards you. It would help if you had the seated wrist curl to increase your forearm muscles strength. The increased power will translate heavier compound lifts into flexion strength.
Biceps
You can target different parts of the bicep by using isolation movements and bicep curls. We believe performing them on the incline bench can activate your biceps.
Triceps
You should develop stronger triceps for good arm wrestling. Remember, there is a point when you should pull your opponent’s arm towards you. The triceps will play a role when tilting inwards before pinning the arm into the table. Use triceps kickbacks to train these muscles.
What Exercises Do I Need for Arm Wrestling
Bicep Curls
You will exercise with either dumbbells or a barbell. Hold a dumbbell on your hands, palm the face-up and curl them upward using your upper arms. Then lift them while hinging at your elbows. Lower the weight slowly, returning to the initial position as per recommendations from the American Council of Exercise.
Barbell Bench Press
Remember you are provided with a lot of exercises to build the pectorals. The barbell bench press is one exercise that achieves that. Lie on a bench with your feet down and place your hands on the barbell. Your elbows should be 90-degrees and forearms perpendicular to the ground.
You must ensure that you grasp the bar during this moment. Lower it to the chest and push it upwards. Finally, make this motion again, and you will complete the exercise.
Diagonal Raises
It would be best if you had shoulder exercise to work deltoids. According to the American Council of Exercise, diagonal raises helps. Hold the dumbbell with your left hand while standing with the hip-distance apart. Ensure that you hold it in front of your right arm.
Extend it to the left side to hold the weight at shoulder height. You will then have to lower the weight. Finally, make eight to 15 movements again and switch sides.
Pullups with Wrist Engagement
You should engage pullups in the workout plan. Pullups involving wrist engagements will get you super forearms. How will you pull them off? Maybe you want that wrist to curb inwards. If you are a more advanced exerciser, then you will perform this move efficiently.
However, try the wrist engagement if you aren’t comfortable with pullups. Do several reps as you can manage, then watch how it translates to work in the wrestling table.
Wringing Out a Wet Towel
This is another solution when you don’t manage to get to the gym. It has been termed as a cheap way of strengthening your arms. You will continuously wring a wet, thick cloth towel in water. The action of squeezing the wet towel and wring it dry repeatedly is complex sometimes.
However, this process is a cheaper way to develop a good forearm, hand, and wrist. All in all, you can do this exercise daily with a lot of reps that you can manage. If you are in the office, keep your hand in the cupping motion and squeeze a pair of grippers.
Arm Wrestling Techniques
The Top-Roll
It transforms arm wrestling to the challenge of hand, finger, and wrist ability. Your hand should work up the opponent’s palm to achieve top-rolling. Ensure your hand wraps around the top part of the opponent and them holding your bottom part. Start immediately to achieve this position.
To make the opponent fall away from his body, pull your hands to your side. Your leverage will increase as it messes with that of the opponent. Hopefully, you will notice that their grip is slipping. Move your grip high on their hand after seeing that.
You will continue doing that until you get higher above their hand. Finally, you will be ready for the finish once you are at this point.
The Hook
This technique is more straightforward. You can either use this technique individually or with the top-roll—your leverage and power increase by forcing the opponent’s hand back. Immediately you begin the contest, push the opponent’s hand backward.
You will expose their wrist after twisting yours towards you. When the opponent gets in this position, you are ready to finish.
Finish
Perhaps finishing your opponent seems hard in arm wrestling. The opponent will try their best before allowing you to slam their hand. Rotate your shoulder to align to the direction the arm goes. You will use bodyweight and stronger muscles at this point. Ensure to provide them with less time to respond.
You should ask yourself if arm wrestling depends on muscle or technique. The popular belief is that it depends on the number of strong muscles that you have. However, it’s how you use muscles that determine success.